We love fellow East-Anglian Laurie Cripps quirky style and are delighted to introduce our exciting new collaboration of Laurie’s charming hand-crafted lino prints into a new collection. These stylish, modern country fabrics are available in a range of original candle shades, cushions and cut lengths. We caught up with Laurie to talk about the exclusive collection and find out more about her whimsical design ideas.

Hi Laurie, we are thrilled to be combining your lovely prints with our products. Can you tell our readers a little bit about why you started up Ratty Golightly?

Ratty Golightly evolved out of a number of projects. I’ve always been drawn to the process of print from typewriting to calligraphy. I’m also passionate about letter writing and think it is an art to be cherished. There is something so relaxing about putting pen to paper that you cannot replicate with a text message or email. Ratty Golightly designs and creates hand carved linoprints for stationery and fabrics.

Why lino?

Like many people I dabbled with print making at school but it wasn’t until recent years that it became a passion. Lino print produces a very naïve form of the original subject. I love the process of taking a subject and reducing it to a series of cuts in a block. You never quite know how a piece will turn out until you ink the block and transfer it to paper.

What does your typical work day look like?

Running a small business is always busy and varied. A typical day could include a trip to the local post office to send out orders from Rattygolightly.com, hand-printing cards to maintain stock levels and drawing a house in preparation for the linoprint of a client’s home. Depending on the time of year there is also preparation for Pop-up shops and sales. There’s also a lot of time spent creating new prints!

Lino printing is an inky business! Describe your work space, are you a messy or tidy worker?

To make the most of every moment I have to be quite methodical and try to contain the messy bits wherever possible. That said I think its hard to find a creative who works in a totally tidy manner. One of the biggest challenges for me is that I am left handed which means I am a natural ‘smudger’…

As a very dog orientated workplace, our favourite prints have got to be the Labrador fabrics. Which item that you have created do you treasure the most?

I love the print of my own four legged friend, Tatty. She is a Bedlington Terrier X Whippet so it was the first time that I had her in print. This year I also made the time to make a block of my own cottage which I then used as the basis of our family Christmas card. The designs I’ve done for Jim Lawrence are very special to me as they represent something that has been really fun and rewarding.

A close second for us are the bespoke prints of your customers homes. Where did the idea behind ‘capturing the castle’ come from?

Well its a play on a few things, most notably Dodie Smith’s Suffolk-based novel, I Capture the Castle, which I love and also the old maxim that ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’. A Ratty Golightly linoprint of your home is a unique way to capture your own ‘castle’ to have framed or use in your own personal stationery.

We know about the quirks of Ratty Golightly, but do you consider your own home a creative space as well?

Most definitely. I once read an article where an artist commented that the visual impact of their home is highly important to creative people. I was thrilled to discover this as I think some of my family and friends are sometimes baffled by the constant evolution of our home. I’m forever shuffling furniture and rehanging pictures. There are so many ways to be creative in a home, cooking is a great way to be creative from trying out new recipes to decorating the dining table.

On Instagram you class yourself as a ‘collector of randomness’. What’s the most curious oddity you have got your hands on?

I would say the most curious oddity in my home is a taxidermy rat that was given to me by the dear friend that gave me the Ratty Golightly moniker many moons ago. I named him Ra Ra Ratsputin and have to store him behind glass to protect him from Tatty, our dog.

Are there any unique Suffolk spots our readers should know about for finding homeware inspiration?

I had a wonderful Christmas shopping trip to Vanil in Woodbridge. They stock genuinely different and unusual pieces that have been carefully made. It can be hard to find unique gifts on the high street so I love it when I find a treasure trove. Suffolk is a wonderful county for quality craftsmanship. Last year I stumbled on a Pop Up promoting the slow craft movement in Orford – there were some amazing items all carefully handmade.

Last but of course not least, what can we expect next from Ratty Golightly?

2018 will see the launch of the Ratty Golightly blog and an array of new prints will appear throughout the year. The textile side of the business is set to grow too which is very exciting. January already looks very busy with house commissions. And who knows, perhaps more work with Jim Lawrence…

We would love to see any pictures of the Ratty Golightly collection in your home! Tag your images on Instagram or Twitter with #JimLawrenceMade or email to press@jim-lawrence.co.uk.so we won’t miss out!

If you want to take a look at more of Laurie’s bespoke designs, you can browse her official site. You can browse the entire Ratty Golightly collection for Jim Lawrence here. Happy shopping!

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Welcome to the Jim Lawrence Blog! We are a British interiors company creating beautiful lighting, furniture, ironwork, curtain poles, and home furnishings from our Suffolk workshop.

This is where we share ideas that we love, show sneak peeks behind the scenes of our brand and offer a unique insight into classic design.